Correct Response: D. Students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE) are at a disadvantage when compared to peers who have had ongoing formal schooling. The U.S. educational system prioritizes logical reasoning, formal modes of classifying knowledge, and written language as a learning tool and information source. Students who have limited literacy skills and/or are unfamiliar with foundational content-area concepts and the (often abstract) academic language through which content is taught require explicit instruction in these skills and concepts in order to succeed academically. A and C are incorrect because they both presume that students with limited or interrupted formal education will not be successful academically, and they direct the students into post-school life/career paths without input from the students themselves. Such presumption is both inaccurate and inappropriate. B is not the most efficient way to use special instructional time, considering the urgency of developing the students' academic thinking and language as a pathway to their school achievement.
